


Take Flight

by Tizzie (Aaelyn)



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Illuminati, Illuminati Rin, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Rin Awakens at Thirteen, Rin is taken by Illuminati, Runaway/Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21552049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaelyn/pseuds/Tizzie
Summary: Rin skips school and certain events begin to shift causing his awakening to happen two years early at the age of 13. Afraid of what he is and afraid to go home a stranger with a similar power offers to help him and give him somewhere to run.
Comments: 44
Kudos: 180





	1. Escape

Rin was begrudgingly walking to school beside Yukio, he kept reminding himself it was only a few more years to go before he’d finally finish middle school and could hopefully put this shit behind him. But on approaching the gates he could hear the familiar taunts and whispers from his other classmates. Pretty much the whole school knew about him and his temper, he had a reputation for getting into fights. But this had been going on for years now since he was young. Parents, Teachers Students; they were all the same. They all called him a demon and said he should just disappear.

He was pretty sure in recent years even his brother had pulled away from him. They had been so close as children, most of the fights he had gotten into had been to protect Yukio. But something changed…he didn’t know what but Yukio spent more time with the old man. It was like he knew something, sometimes giving a fearful glance when he lost his temper at home or at school. He’d always composed himself quickly enough, hiding behind a fake smile, but Rin still noticed. Even the priests and the old man did it on occasion.

As they approached the gates, Yukio walked on in whilst Rin stopped outside. He didn’t feel like this today. With his bag hung on his forehead he shoved his hands in his pockets and carried on walking down the street. Yukio shouted after him, but he ignored it. Yukio wouldn’t miss school just to chase after him anyway and just like he thought, Yukio gave up and went into school. Yukio was the smart one, the good son; the one who wasn’t a screw-up or disappointment.

Rin had stopped at a nearby shrine, it was early and still empty. He took in the silence of the shrine. No one to taunt him, no one to look at him with that same fear and call him a demon child. Just peace and quiet and a few patrons stopping by the shrine to pay respects. Rin had snuck around the back of the building just by the gardens, where he would be left alone for the most part. He was sure the teachers at school would’ve phoned Father Fujimoto by now and told of his absence, again. The old man was probably scripting out his lecture already for when he got home.

Maybe he should just stay away, he was just a burden to them all anyway. He knew they didn’t act like it, but there was always that niggling feeling in the back of his mind that they would be happier if he really did just disappear.

Would they be happier if he just didn’t go home this time? The thought slipped into darkness along with Rin’s vision when his eyes shuttered close.

By the time Rin woke up the sun had dropped to just above the horizon. Shit, school was over and it was getting late. The Shrine seemed to be shutting up soon as well, the last few stragglers of patrons filtering out of the main entrance to the grounds. Rin grabbed his bag and followed, he got to the bottom of the steps that lead to the shrine only to be faced with his internal dilemma. Should he go home?

Every responsible fibre in his body screamed yes. But that niggling voice in his head was saying he should keep walking the other direction. His body seemed to move on its own, subconsciously doing what that little voice wanted it to do.

Before he knew it, the sky was dark, street lights were on and he had ended up in a rundown part of Southern Cross. His stomach growled; he’d not eaten since breakfast. After falling asleep he’d completely forgotten to eat the bento he’d made the previous night. Figuring he might as well eat it now since the old man probably wouldn’t feed him after the shit he pulled today. He began rummaging through his bag for his lunch when he heard cackles of laughter from a nearby alleyway.

His curiosity got the better of him and he moved towards the alley’s entrance to see who was laughing and why. It was just a couple of older kids, Rin’s nose crinkled at the smell of alcohol coming from the alley. He pulled back around the corner and started to wander away, he should probably go home before the old man gets a heart attack or something. Sighing in resignation he would have to face him at some point. The little voice still telling him he should run away. He shook it off.

A figure watched him from the shadows.

He began to walk back towards the busy streets when as he turned around, he bumped into someone. It was another older kid; going to join his friends. He grunted and gave Rin a disgruntled glare.

“Watch it, kid!”

“You watch it!” Rin spat back.

The youth shoved him roughly, but that just riled Rin up even more and he shoved back; forgetting his strength. The youth slammed into a nearby wall and was knocked out cold.

“Shit…” Rin grimaced looking at his hands and taking a deep breath.

The noise from the commotion drew the other youths out of their hidden alleyway. The drunken shock on their faces soon turned to anger as they saw their friend beaten against the wall. Their attention soon moved to the thirteen-year-old boy standing outside the alley.

Before Rin had a chance to move, they were on him, pinning him to the floor. One of the kids went to check on the boy that got hit; he started to come to. Rin struggled under the hold, he was strong but outnumbered and at a disadvantage; he couldn’t move.

The injured youth approached him, albeit on wobbly feet.

“You pack a punch, kid” he coughed out “But isn’t it past your bedtime? Ha-ha!” He pulled Rin’s head up by his hair, before slamming his face back into the concrete. Rin screamed as the pain shot through his face; his nose broken. He felt the warm sensation of blood run down his face onto the cold ground below him. “Babies like you shouldn’t be wanderin’ the streets after dark. It’s dangerous ya know?”

“No shit, sherlock.” Rin spat. He wasn’t sure why he was taunting the older kid now he was pinned to the ground, but the words just flew from his mouth.

“This kid doesn’t know when to shut his mouth.” One of the kids pinning him down pushed him harder into the floor as he spoke. Rin growled at the elbow shoved in the back of his neck.

“Did he just growl?!” The kids laughed “What are you a dog?” Someone poked his cheek, he snapped at the finger biting down hard drawing blood. The kid screamed in pain, gripping his hand and loosening his hold on Rin. But he still had two more on top of him.

The first kid gave him a serious look, he was the only sober one it seemed, he almost looked calculating.

“You wanna be violent, kid? Cos we can be violent too.” He laughed, pulling out something shiny from a side pocket on his trouser leg. He flipped it open, to reveal a knife. He held up Rin’s face with a vice grip. Rin could feel the bruising under his fingertips.

He held up the knife to Rin’s cheek, the cold metal making him flinch.

“You’ve got quite the vile tongue on you kid, maybe we should cut it out.” He laughed; Rin could see the sadistic gleam in his eyes. It scared him.

The kids on his back soon adjusted themselves, the third one returning after nursing his bitten finger. They forced Rin’s mouth open and the kid in front grabbed hold of his tongue firmly. Rin panicked, were they really going to…he felt a tingling heat under his skin; his head throbbed. He needed to get away, he needed to get out of here and back home.

The kid pulled his tongue and the cold blade of the knife was touched to the surface, Rin couldn’t speak, and could only get out screams, pleading them not to do it. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

Stop it!

The kid started applying pressure before the heat in Rin’s body exploded out of him, knocking everyone off and away from him. It was only after a few seconds he registered the screams of agony coming from the other kids. He looked around the alley was covered in blue fire; he turned his attention to the kids and the source of the screams to find them all rolling around on the floor…burning.

The rolling wasn’t doing anything to stop the blue fire as it ate away at their clothes and their skin.

The smell of burnt flesh reached his nose, as he watched the bodies before him crisp and crumble, a look of absolute fear etched on his face. He then realised he to was on fire and started patting the flames to put them out, only to realise it wasn’t working. But he wasn’t burning, the fire was warm, comforting on his skin; only burning everything around him but leaving himself untouched.

Was the fire coming from him? How…? He was pulled out of his train of thought by sirens approaching in the distance. He needed to leave before someone found him surrounded by dead and burnt bodies. He stood up and ran deeper into the alleyway through the back streets, he had to get home—

He froze, he examined himself, still very much on fire. He couldn’t go home… not like this. He found a narrow passageway behind a bar or restaurant, he shoved some rubbish out of the way so the flames wouldn’t touch it and cause a bigger fire, sitting down behind a large bin.

He was shaking all over, he stared at his hands, the blue flames flickering ever so gently on the surface of his skin. He took deep breathes and closed his eyes trying to calm himself. After a few moments he opened his eyes again, the flames had disappeared; Rin sighed in relief.

He stayed sat behind the bin, too afraid to move and not knowing what to do. The older kids… he’d killed them all, the panic was starting to creep back into him, what was he going to do…

He heard footsteps enter the alley, as well as shouting from far away – probably where he’d just been. He stiffened as the footsteps got closer, holding his breath hoping that this person went away. Please just turn around and go away!

Someone stood in front of him, shrouded in darkness Rin couldn’t see their face. They were wearing a long overcoat that stopped just below the knees. He noticed slim legs and high heeled shoes on their feet.

“Well well well…” A feminine voice came from the figure as they knelt, Rin could make out the features of a face. A pretty woman with bright green eyes and dark skin was staring at him as if looking into his soul. Was she with the police? Was she going to arrest him for killing those kids?

“I had a feeling about you. I found you at the shrine, asleep. It was so faint but I felt it, no wonder they’ve managed to hide you for so long. I decided to follow you and thanks to those children back there you’ve finally awakened, dear brother.” She examined his face, looking into his eyes. He was somewhat confused about the ‘brother’ comment but brushed it off.

“Quite the handsome little devil aren’t you.” She smirked.

“W-who are you…? Are you with the police?” Rin stuttered out. The sirens were still blaring in the distance, he could see the flashing lights of the various emergency services in the area.

The woman gave a little laugh.

“No little one. My name is Iblis, I am here to help you. I saw what happened back there in the alley.” Rin’s eyes widened in fear, trying to scoot further back as if he could pass through the wall and escape.

“Don’t be afraid. As I said, I want to help you.”

“How can you help me…why?” Rin eyed her warily.

“Because I’m just like you.” She smiled and held out her hand. As he blinked red and orange flames appeared in her palm, unburning just like his own. The flame flurried all around her body before returning to her palm again, the flame disappeared as she closed her hand. Rin stared in awe. Someone like him…but what did that mean?

“I’m sure you have questions, but I cannot answer them here. It’s not safe for you.” She held out a hand to help the boy up.

“What I’m not following you, I don’t even know you! I want to go home!”

She tilted her head at him, watching him carefully.

“And what happens when you accidentally set fire to your home.” Rin froze “Your flames kill all whom you love and care for.” The guilt and fear on his face when he looked back up to Iblis was obvious.

“You can’t control that power, and it will destroy everything. I can help you; I can teach you. I can give you answers. **We** can give you a safe place to stay. Because now that your blue flames have become known, the Exorcists will come for you.” Exorcists? Wasn’t that his old man’s counselling job? “The Exorcists will **kill** you.”

“Who’s ‘we’” He asked with suspicion.

“An organisation I work for, that takes care of people like us. Now come child, before **they** come for you.” He reluctantly took her hand, maybe he could just get some control over this fire thing before coming home again. Would they let him come home again…? Before he had a chance to contemplate the consequences of what he’d just done, he was surrounded by red and orange flames. Hearing footsteps quickly running towards them. He saw a small black cat with horns and two tails, followed by his Father and Yukio, turn the corner with a look of horror on their faces. He heard Father Fujimoto call out to him as the flames swallowed him and the alleyway disappeared.

* * *

When he’d gotten the call from Rin’s school to say he hadn’t turned up, Shiro had groaned in frustration. Nearly having the urge to go and find him right there and then, dragging him home by his hair. But he would wait, he wouldn’t come straight away, but he’d soon get hungry and come home for dinner. Shiro considered making something meaty just so the smell would give the boy some grief when he was sent to bed with nothing but some rice. Before long, it was time for the schools to let out, Shiro had been lying in wait for Rin to walk in the door. Yukio had come first, alone, not too much surprise there. His youngest son had explained how his brother had just walked off at the entrance to the school upon hearing hushed whispers from classmates again. It was a shame; Rin had tried to fit in going against everything he was to do good things for others. It certainly was a miracle he hadn’t turned out like his father. But not being able to control his strength or temper had been an issue growing up. Since a young age, he’d been shunned by most teachers and classmates because of it. His only friend was Yukio and even then, they were brothers and were very different from each other.

Dinner time rolled on, there was still no sign of Rin and it was started to get dark outside. Maybe he should’ve got Rin a cell phone as well… If he didn’t get home soon it was gonna be prime time for demons on the streets.

In the end, the dinner was left and everyone decided to go looking for Rin. Yukio refused to stay home with Misumi and went along with Shiro to check out Rin’s usual haunts. After turning up nothing, Shiro called the southern gate, wondering if anyone of Rin’s description had passed through. But no, he was still in Southern Cross somewhere, before putting the phone down he requested they send Kuro.

They headed back to the Monastery, there had been no more signs of Rin returning. Shiro grabbed something of Rin’s and when Kuro arrived, they set out to track him down using his scent. They soon approached a crime scene, surrounded by police, firefighters and ambulances. Four body bags could be seen in the distance, murmurs of being burnt alive arose from the crowd. But apparently, no one saw a fire.

He hoped none of the bodies was Rin…

“ _Rin was here, I can smell him_ ” He meowed frantically clawing at Shiro’s leg, he might’ve been human and unable to understand the words, but Shiro always knew what Kuro was thinking. He grabbed a nearby officer and asked the situation.

The officer shrugged him off, he needed to leave the area so they could investigate.

“Look, my son is missing. I need to know what happened here.” The worry on his face soon caused the officer to feel pity. He pulled Shiro and Yukio aside from the crowd and explained what he could of the situation.

“A bunch of kids were drinking in the alley; some other kid had wandered in and a fight broke out. A passing witness ran away to get help and on returning all the bodies were scorched beyond recognition. But the witness saw no fire in the area.”

“No fire at all?” Shiro looked sceptical.

The officer shook his head. He thanked the officer and moved away from the scene.

“Could it have been blue flames? Aren’t they invisible to those without temptaint?” Yukio asked, looking at his father. Shiro frowned. Surely not, it was too soon, wasn’t it? The seal was supposed to last another few years at least. Maybe Mephisto had it wrong.

“I hope not, but it’s possible…I’d need to check the sword, but first we need to find Rin.” Kuro started meowing at them from the alley and darted down when Shiro and Yukio ran after him. He’d got a fresh scent; Rin was still here.

Please say he’s okay.

Kuro stopped at the entrance to an alley, a bright light glowing from within. They turned the corner and found Rin and some woman surrounded by fire. Shiro and Yukio looked on in horror. The woman flashed a sharp canine at them as she smiled, a demon. Rin looked in their direction in shock, but before he had a chance to say anything, they both disappeared with the flames.

“NO RIN!” Shiro stumbled forward hand extended before he threw a punch at the wall. Yukio flinched. “Dammit…” he swore as he rubbed his fist. He looked down to Kuro “Anything?” Kuro gave Shiro a sad look and shook his head.

Yukio looked at the spot his brother had been, scorch marks surrounded the area. Shiro grabbed Yukio’s arm and pulled him along out of the alley. “Dad, where are we going?”

“Back to the Monastery.” He pulled out his phone, calling the priests and told them to meet him there.

“But what about Rin?”

Shiro sighed. “The scent has gone, we’ve no way to track him now. I need to speak with Mephisto. Right now, everyone needs to get back and I need to check the sword.”

“Do you think the seal has broken?”

“I’m not sure, it could’ve been her that caused the earlier fire. We don’t know that it was Rin’s flames.”

“Who was she?”

“That was Iblis…” Shiro frowned. “She must’ve been skulking around and spotted Rin when he skipped school. If she’d managed to sense his power then the seal is weakening.”

They arrived back at the Monastery just as it started to rain outside. The other priests waiting expectantly, but gave confused looks when Shiro and Yukio arrived without Rin in tow.

“Where is he?” Nagatomo stepped forward, passing the two towels to dry off. Shiro gave a pained look.

“Iblis found him first.” Gasps sounded around the room. Shiro didn’t say another word before heading to his room, pulling out a key that hung around his neck from out of his uniform. Walking to a tall red chest of drawers he put the key in the lock and turned, opening the drawer.

His eyes fell to the item inside, a sheathed katana. The hilt and scabbard blue with silver decorative trimmings. A look of horror formed on his face when he realised the seal had burned away completely. No trace of the paper remained. So, he had awakened, and Iblis had sensed him.

Shiro carefully closed the drawer back up, locking again. The sword would remain hidden, for as long as they couldn’t get their filthy hands on it, Rin would remain human. He would be useless to them, useless to **_him_**.


	2. Flying High, In the Sky

When the red flames disappeared again Rin, who seemed to be clinging to the strange woman as if his life depended on it, noticed they were in a different location. He looked around frantically, pushing himself away from the woman.

“What did you do? Where are we?!” Rin snapped at the woman, who in return just gave him a disinterested look. She shook her head disapprovingly.

“Your manners are atrocious, little one.” She tutted “I moved us within my flames to a safer location. Right now, we are in a forest on the outskirts of the city. If you follow me there is a helicopter awaiting us.”

Rin looked between the trees and could see the lights of the city in the distance, he began walking towards them. Before he was grabbed on the wrist by the woman, he tried pulling it away again but her grip was like a vice. Why was she so strong?!

“Wrong way, little demon.”

“Let me go! I’m not a d—” Rin froze as she smiled at him. He could see sharp canines, it looked like she had fangs. He studied her now so close to him, the tips of her ears were pointed her eyes held yellow slits inside the sea of green.

“What are you?” It was said as a whisper, but Iblis heard nonetheless.

“I am a Demon.”

“A Demon…? B-But demons aren’t real—” he was cut off by hysterical laughter.

“Oh my, those exorcists really did a number on you boy. Kept you in the dark about everything it seems.”

“Please take me back home…my dad will be worried.” Just remembering the look of shock on his dad and brother’s faces was enough to send a pang of guilt through him.

“No, you are far too important for me to let you run back to the Exorcists.” Rin stopped trying to get away after that, confused.

“What does that mean? I’m just a kid, all I’m good for is getting into fights. I’m not even that smart.” He said frowning at her.

She pulled him closer, holding his face gently at the chin.

“Is that what those humans made you think? You are far more valuable than you seem to realise. Those blue flames are proof of that.” Rin’s eyes grew wide at the reminder of those blue flames that had been covering his own body. Was this all about them?

“What are those flames?”

Iblis smirked at him “If you want answers then you must come with me now.”

Rin took another look at the city lights flickering in the distance. He wanted to know, maybe it would explain why he always felt like he didn’t belong. But to leave without saying anything to his family…

_‘But weren’t you going to run away from them anyway?’_

He’d thought about it, yes. Even gone so far as to stay out late just to make them worry a bit. But thinking about it seriously Rin didn’t want to do that to his family…

_‘They’d be happier if you were gone’_

Rin shook his head wanting the voice to shut up. Right now, he had to deal with this situation. He would be risking his home and family if he went home and the flames came back. But what if he went with this woman and they didn’t let him leave…

His head throbbed; visions of his home up in blue flames, scattered with the burnt bodies of his family began to invade his mind. Before he knew it, he was on the ground, gripping his hair. Iblis watched impatiently. She knelt before him, taking hold of his face she gently pulled him closer to her own, eyes shut she touched his forehead to hers.

An overwhelming calm came over him, the throbbing in his head disappeared and he felt the need to sleep. Rin’s breathing calmed and he released his hands from his head, bringing his face up to look at her.

“H-how did you…?”

She smiled.

“I am a master of flames, I just calmed yours. I told you, I can teach you to control them. They will only get stronger and more powerful. If you learn control early then when your full power returns it will be easier for you.”

“My full power?”

Suddenly a phone rang from the pocket of the woman. She answered it quickly.

“Yes?... I have him here, we will be there soon.” With that, she hung up. She stood up and ushered Rin to do the same.

“The guys at the helicopter are getting impatient. Come on.” She pulled him along, he seemed to have trouble making a choice, so she made it for him. Rin was reluctant to fight the pull, he wanted to go home but the thought that his flames would grow stronger and more powerful was frightening after seeing what they could already do. He didn’t want to hurt…kill his family.

Before he knew it, they reached a clearing and in the middle was a large helicopter. It looked like a military helicopter but the logo on the side was that of a star. It wasn’t a logo he’d ever seen before. Iblis nudged him towards the door and motioned for him to get in, he took one last look at the lights in the distance before climbing into the helicopter. Iblis followed behind along with the guards.

Rin was nervous, he’d never been in a helicopter before. The engines started up and Rin could hear the blades start to spin above him before his stomach was jolted into motion when they started leaving the ground. He looked out the of the window with a sad look at the city below as it faded into the distance. He wondered how upset and worried they were, maybe he could call them when he got to wherever he was going.

He turned back to look at the people in the helicopter with him. They were all wearing the same uniform. A green jacket with long red cuffs with black undershirt and gloves; a red band on the arm with the same logo as what he saw on the helicopter. On their bottom half, they wore white trousers with a red stripe going down the side and knee-high black boots. It suddenly dawned on him he’d left all his belongings behind, still only wearing his school uniform. Iblis still wore the brown long coat she’d been wearing the whole time, he wondered what her uniform was since he couldn’t see the same trousers or boots from looking at her legs.

The silence was deafening, even with the helicopter making so much noise in the background he hated the awkwardness of it all. The guards kept giving him funny looks, he wasn’t sure if they feared him or were in awe of him. He wished they’d stop staring though.

He looked back to Iblis who seemed to be ignoring everyone and had shut her eyes. He cleared his throat to get her attention. She cracked an eye open to look at him questioningly.

“Uh-um where are we going?” He tilted his head, looking like a lost puppy. Iblis sighed.

“We are heading to the headquarters of the organisation I mentioned. You will meet with the Commander-in-Chief there and he will explain things to you.” Rin silently absorbed the information, chewing the inside of his cheek as he did so.

Before long he could see something emerging from the clouds in the distance. Rin turned to get a better look out of the window and was shocked to see a giant airship bearing the same insignia of the star.

“Whoa…”

Iblis smirked at his childish wonder. Such innocence. Soon enough they were approaching the airship, the helicopter flying into a hangar. The hangar doors closed and they were able to finally exit the helicopter. A group of guards waiting for them as they approached a large set of doors leading to the rest of the ship.

Iblis led the group, Rin finally noticing the authority she gave off to the other guards that had accompanied them. Even the approaching guards bowed. All but one anyway; a short young woman with cropped dark brown hair, and a white streak on her fringe. He was wondering whether this woman was short, or whether Iblis was just…tall. Iblis seemed to match the height of the tall men behind the other woman.

“Iblis, the Commander is expecting you.” She turned her attention to Rin “I take it this is the boy?”

Iblis nodded “Yes Homare, this is the boy that wields the blue flames of Satan.”

Wait, what? Rin snapped her head to Iblis in shock, did she just say…Satan. Was he actually a thing? He’d obviously heard of him, he’d grown up in a church for god’s sake, but to know that he existed for real…and had some sort of connection to those flames was unnerving. He’d only just been told demons were real.

Before he had much of a chance to dwell on this further, he was being pushed along a corridor. The woman seemed to be discussing the Commander’s health.

“He’s been better, but this news has brought him in high spirits…” She glanced back at Rin from the front. She was almost emotionless the way she looked at him. They soon came to a large set of doors. Pushing a button to the side, the woman named Homare spoke into a small speaker.

“This is Todou, I have brought Iblis with the boy.”

“Thank you, send them in.” A voice spoke from the other side of the speaker.

The doors slid open and Iblis put her arm around Rin’s shoulders to guide him through the door with her. Only the two of them entered, doors closing behind them. Rin looked around, the room was huge and so…clean and white. His attention drew to the centre of the room on a rounded platform.

A man, laid on what looked like a hospital bed, stared at him. He had short blond hair that framed his face with a flick of hair at the top. The man was hooked up to several tall towers of some kind of solution. Rin gulped.

The man sat up and stared at him as he hovered by the doorway. Iblis stepped forward and knelt on one knee in front of the other.

“Brother, I have brought you the inheritor of the blue flames.”

Brother? Were they related? They looked nothing alike. Rin was a tad confused, and wary. Something about the man seemed off, it was like something inside him was going wild just being in the presence of this man.

“Thank you, Iblis. You’ve done well in finding him. The exorcists hid him well. I’m sure Father will be pleased.”

“There is but one disappointing matter, they have sealed away his demon heart. He is, for all intents, human. The power is there but only a tiny fraction of it is accessible to him.” She grimaced, looking back at the confused boy who gave her even more silent questions with his expression.

“I see, that is indeed disappointing. What is your name, child?” Rin jumped at the question directed at him, feeling the panic rise he stuttered out his answer.

“R-Rin, Rin O-Okumura.” He took a breath before adding “Sir” for good measure.

“Come closer, I would like to look at you.”

Rin hesitated but noticed the glare Iblis was giving him nodding her head in the man’s direction. He walked closer until he was right in front of the bed. Now that he was closer, he could see the same features as Iblis. Pointed ears, green eyes with slits for pupils and the glint of fangs in his mouth. Although he noticed something else as well something he hadn’t on Iblis; long, blond and furry, Rin realised the man had a tail.

The man stood, towering over Rin, he took Rin’s face in his hands and examined him. Rin looked the man in the eyes, he was so close he couldn’t really avoid it.

“Are you a demon?”

The man shot a questioning look to Iblis.

“He only found out demons existed a few hours ago. The exorcists have kept him in the dark about everything, include his heritage.” She huffed in frustration, crossing her arms over her chest.

“A shame, then we must educate him.” He turned his gaze back to Rin, releasing his face at last and taking a step back to sit on the bed behind him.

“My name is Lucifer and yes I am a demon. As are you.”

“What do you mean? I’m not a-a demon!” Rin bared his teeth in anger, hands formed to fists at his sides. He couldn’t really be angry at the man for telling him this but it still made him angry to hear it. He’d been taunted with that nickname his whole life. Now knowing demons actually existed and he…

“You do not know of whom your parents are, do you?” Lucifer brought Rin out of his thoughts.

Rin shook his head “We were raised by Father Fujimoto, Yukio and me. He never told us anything about our birth parents. I assumed he didn’t know and to be honest I didn’t care.” He bit his bottom lip; did he care now?

“As expected of him, to keep things a secret from you.” Rin looked confused, why would he need to keep secrets from him? “Would you like to know who they are? I can tell you. It is important for you to know if you are to progress any further.”

Rin looked at him with an air of curiosity, he nodded slowly “Okay…”

“Very well, you are born of the human woman Yuri Egin, and the God of Gehenna; Satan.”

Rin was very still; eyes wide. He wasn’t sure how to react. He didn’t react, much to Iblis surprise, it was like he was frozen in time. He wanted to say something; to scream, yell or punch something but he couldn’t move. After a few moments’ tears started to fall, he wrapped his arms around himself and sunk to his knees. Neither Iblis nor Lucifer made a move and just watched him.

His tears turned to more violent cries as he screamed at the floor slamming his fit into it, the tiles shattered under his strength. Light blue flames began leaking from his body. He froze again when he felt a hand on top of his head, looking up into green eyes of the sickly-looking demon before him. Rin sat up, rubbing away the wetness from his face.

“We will help you through this troubling time, brother.” He removed his hand and Rin’s lessened as he calmed.

“Iblis, can you please take our guest to his room. I believe that is enough for today.” Lucifer stood and returned to his bed, coughing slightly as he sat down.

“Yes, Brother.” She helped Rin to his feet and began to leave the room. Rin glanced back, noticing a few black marks on the demon’s skin and a tiny bit of blood in the corner of his mouth. They re-joined the guards outside and were escorted a little way down the corridor. Entering a code, the doors slid open to reveal an empty white room with a single bed and a desk inside. Iblis walked Rin into the room.

She looked at him nervously looking around, the flames had now disappeared but she could see the pain in his expression.

“This will be your room, whilst you stay on the Dominus Liminus. There is a bathroom through that door.” She pointed to a door beside the desk in a corner. Rin didn’t acknowledge anything she said, choosing to stare blankly at the floor.

“Lucifer can only receive visitors for a short while at the moment, his vessel is weakening and he needs regular treatments to stop his body from deteriorating.” Rin stayed silent “If you have any more questions about your heritage, demons or anything else I will answer the best I can.”

“I want to call my dad.” Rin stared at her blankly.

“I can’t allow—” She stopped to dodge a stapler that had been thrown in her direction, it smacked into the wall behind her. She glared at him fiercely.

“You took me from my family and now I’m stuck here. I might not see them again and I never got to say goodbye to anyone, let me just call them so they know I’m okay!” She dropped the glare and gave him a look of pity. Pulling out a cell phone and handing out to him, he immediately went to grab it before she pulled back.

“You have one phone call, one minute. Tell them you are safe; you are not to mention anything about where you are or who you’re with. Is that clear.” Rin nodded and Iblis passed the phone. “I will stay here so I can keep an eye on you.” She sat in a nearby chair and crossed her legs, folding her arms across her chest.

He glared at her before sighing and dialling in the number for the Monastery. Rin held his breath whilst the phone started ringing, wondering what exactly to say to the old man. His heart nearly jumped into his throat, when someone answered.

“Hello?” It sounded like Izumi.

Rin felt the words get caught in his throat but finally managed to cough out a greeting.

“Hey, It’s Rin.”

“Rin?!” There was shuffling in the background and what sounded like a bang before his Father’s voice came to the phone.

“Rin where are you?! Are you okay?” It almost felt like a relief to hear his voice, more concerned than angry.

“I’m fine, Old man. I’m safe…” He glanced at Iblis from the corner of his eye “I think.” He muttered to himself.

“Where are you Rin? We’ll come and get you.”

“I…” he hesitated before answering, he wanted to tell but had a feeling his call would be cut short if he did “I can’t say. But I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Rin…are you still with that woman?”

Rin didn’t say anything, he could see Iblis watching him carefully but she nodded, permission to at least acknowledge her. She had already been seen by the priest anyway so it made no difference.

“Yeah, I’m still with her.”

“Rin you need to get away, she’s dangerous, she’s—” Panic mixed with anger rose in Shiro’s voice.

“She’s going to help me.” Rin interrupted. Silence from the other end. “Listen, Old man something…happened, I can’t come home until I’ve sorted something out.”

“Talk to me Rin, what happened. **We** can help you.” Shiro pleaded with him.

Iblis stood and held her hand out for the phone “Times up, Runt.”

Shiro heard the command on the other side of the phone “No, Rin! Don’t hang up!”

“Sorry old man, I gotta go. I’m sorry I skipped school and caused all this shit.”

“Wait Rin!”

“Goodbye, Dad.” He bit back sobs as he pushed the button to end the call. Handing the phone back to Iblis, it burst into flames in her palm until all that was left were the ashes. Rin stared somewhat shocked.

“Burner phone.” She smirked. Rin frowned at her, moving to sit on the bed. “Get some rest, I’ll come to get you tomorrow and we’ll play with some fire. Would be better if we had whatever they sealed you with though…”

“What do you mean by that? I heard you say something like that to Lucifer as well. My heart is sealed or something?”

“If you hadn’t already noticed, you look human. You lack certain…features one would expect from a demon. This is because your demon heart is sealed away along with your power. I can only guess the exorcist has it. He will probably keep it hidden as well… anything to keep you human.”

Rin looked at his reflection in a nearby mirror. It was true, he still looked normal.

“You keep saying exorcists, who do you mean?”

“Your family, dear one. The ones who have hidden and raised you. They are exorcists of the True Cross Order. Ones who kill and exorcise demons like us.”

“What…?”

“And that priest that you call your ‘Father’, is the highest-ranking exorcist, the Paladin. I’m sure that human brother of yours is probably in on the whole thing as well.” She glanced to see the hurt on Rin’s face.

“Yukio…is human? How is that possible if I’m a demon? We’re twins…aren’t we?” He had doubts now, what if Yukio wasn’t really his brother…He’d been raised by people that kill demons, why was he still alive. His father didn’t seem like a killer…

“Yes, you are twins. From what I heard; he was the weaker one in the womb so the power only transferred to you. Leaving him completely human. But you’re still brothers, biologically.” She could see the slight relief going through him at that.

“If they are all exorcists and supposed to kill demons, why did they raise me instead of killing me.”

She shrugged

“I don’t know the whole story, but knowing Samael it was for his own twisted entertainment.”

“Who’s--?” She waved him off stopping the question.

“He’s a demon that works for the exorcists. He is one below Lucifer in Gehenna’s hierarchy.” She could see the bubbling questions and confusion going on in Rin’s mind and sighed.

“Okay you get some sleep; I promise I will give you a demon 101 lesson tomorrow after you have rested.” He seemed satisfied with that answer and nodded. Although wasn’t sure if he’d sleep at all with all the burning questions running through his mind right now. Rin grabbed a towel and decided to make use of the bathroom before bed. Iblis left the room, door sliding shut behind her.

Homare was stood outside. Iblis stood up straight and frowned.

“I want someone to investigate the item that his sealing his demon heart. I want it found and brought back here.”

Homare nodded and they walked their separate ways.

* * *

“Goodbye, Dad.” The phone went dead.

“RIN!” Shiro slammed the phone down, dialling to see if he could recall the number. The number wasn’t blocked and he tried calling back only to be faced with endless beeping. The phone was dead.

“Dammit. Probably a burner. Damn bitch was there in the room with him.” Yukio flinched at his father’s use of language.

“What did he say?” he asked his father curiously.

“Something happened and she was going to help him with it. I can only assume he means the flames but doesn’t want to tell us about them. Because he doesn’t know we know, because we lied to him about everything.” Shiro sat at the table, face in his hands. “They must’ve let him call so he could say goodbye…”

“Who are they, Dad?”

He looked to Yukio, fear crossing his features. He didn’t want to drag him into this as well, he was only thirteen, only just become an Exorcist. It was too soon for these problems.

“Don’t worry about it, Yukio, I will sort this mess out and bring your brother home. Just concentrate on your schoolwork. Got it?” Yukio nodded hesitantly.

“Will they take him to Satan…?” Shiro pursed his lips, he dreaded the thought of that but wasn’t sure how they’d manage it.

“I doubt it, Rin is still sealed. His human body won’t handle Gehenna. We still have a chance to get him back. I want to double our wards and seals on the Monastery, the sword needs to remain safe.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

Shiro needed to go and speak with Mephisto before anything else now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and comments! I'm back with a new chapter. I totally did not get the chapter title from Peppa Pig.... ANYWAY!  
> Hope you like it, we meet Luci-boi - Iblis seems less hostile in this fic compared to my other xD.


	3. One of Us

Rin felt someone nudging him.

“---ke up!”

He rolled over groaning, pulling some sheets over his head; he didn’t want to go to school today.

“Wake UP!”

It suddenly felt very hot, and the sheets disappeared from on top of him the smell of burning met his nose and the cold air brushed against his skin. He squinted his eyes open to see a rather pissed off woman hovering above him with a flame in the palm of her hand. His half-asleep brain didn’t recognise this woman, he immediately jumped back in a panic.

“Old Man!!” he shouted; before he took in his surroundings.

The woman deadpanned “Did you forget where you are, Runt?”

The events of the previous night finally filtering back into his head and he remembered he’d been taken by this woman; this demon, on to some organisation’s airship. His initial panic ebbed away but remained on edge in his new surroundings.

“Do you always sleep with your eyes open like that, it’s creepy.” Rin ignored the jab, rubbing his eyes and wiping the drool from his chin and choosing to just frown at her. At least he was, before taking in her appearance as she stood next to his bed. The brown overcoat had gone and what she had remaining in clothing wasn’t exactly much. Rin felt his face heat up and quickly averted his eyes.

“Oh my, such a bashful teen.” She smirked, “You’ll need to get used to it; that coat was getting stuffy.”

“Do you not have any normal clothes to wear! Something that doesn’t look like metal underwear?!” This time she gave a hearty laugh.

“I do but I save those for when I need to blend in whilst in Assiah. Here on the ship, I dress how I please. Doesn’t bother anyone else. You’ll get used to it.”

Rin ran his heads through his hair and groaned, he’ll just be forced to look at her face to face the whole time.

“What time is it?” He said through a stifled yawn and stretched his arms out.

“6 am, time to rise and shine.”

Rin groaned pulling a pillow over his head, this was worse than sharing a room with Yukio. The pillow burned away before his eyes, he flinched back throwing the remains across the room.

“Are you nuts?! You’re gonna burn me!”

“Don’t be silly. I have perfect control and will burn what I want to burn, I could burn everything in this room and leave you untouched. This is the control you need to learn.” Rin grimaced at the reason he had even considered going with the demon in the first place. “There is a uniform in the closet for you to change into, assuming you don’t want to run around the ship looking like a misplaced school child.”

He begrudgingly got up and checked the closet. As she said, there was the same uniform as all the other people on the ship. He sighed.

“I have to wear the same uniform as the people that work here?” Rin groaned.

Iblis nodded “It will help with your fitting and blending in with the rest of the ship. Lucifer also wants you trained to eventually join his guard, the Phosphorus.”

Rin frowned “You’re really not gonna let me go home, are you?”

“I told you already, you are too valuable. Once the exorcists discover your flames you’d be captured and put to death.” Rin winced at the mention of his flames, the proof that he was not human and who his real father was. “We can protect you here, and once you have trained enough, you will work directly under Lucifer. He wants to keep you close by. Homare will watch over you as well.”

“Isn’t that the moody looking lady from before?” Rin questioned; Iblis sniggered and nodded.

“She is Lucifer’s second in command, she’s very serious and loyal. Stay on her good side and it’ll be an easy ride for you.” She turned her back as Rin started to undress and put on his uniform. It felt weird, the fabric was nice. But he’d have rather been able to wear his own clothes, he didn’t want to look like the people on this ship.

“Okay, I’m ready” Iblis turned and gave him a once over “It suits you.” Nodding in approval. Rin felt a little silly.

“What would you like to do first, we can go to one of the training rooms to work on your flame control. Or we can continue where we left off yesterday, and I can educate you a bit on the demon side of your blood.” Rin thought but was cut off by the sound of his stomach growling.

“How about breakfast?”

“Fine, let’s head to the food court.”

Iblis led the way, Rin followed close behind. Everyone they passed stared at him, was it because he was so young or because they knew who his father really was? How many people on this ship knew about him? A thought struck him, a question he’d never had properly answered yet.

“Hey Iblis, what is this organisation called, anyway?”

“It’s called The Illuminati.” She walked up to a big set of double doors and they slid open revealing a large food court.

The smell of cooked food reached his nose and he started to drool. It had been a while since he’d eaten anything substantial. Even the bento was lost in the fight the previous night, he whimpered. Iblis led Rin to a line and shoved a tray into his hands.

“Help yourself, Runt.”

“I can have anything I want?” His eyes lit up for a moment at the prospect.

Iblis nodded. Soon Rin was off, filling his tray with whatever delicious food he could find. By the time he was done, he had a tray full of food. He turned and froze, finally taking in the huge hall of strange people all sat at tables chatting to one another. It felt oddly familiar to school and he realised that he didn’t know anyone. Kids at school would stare and whisper about him, but at least he’d had Yukio before, now he was alone. The feeling weighed down on him like a ton of bricks before someone nudged him from behind.

“Come on, Runt.” Iblis had grabbed a small tray of food before leading him to a half-full table and sitting down, motioning for him to do the same. Iblis sat and Rin sat opposite, the other people at the table going about their business and continuing their conversations uninterrupted. Rin dug into his food, feeling like he’d been starved forever.

Iblis stared at him amused as he shovelled the food into his mouth. The boy certainly had an appetite. She cleared her throat getting Rin’s attention.

“So, where would you like me to begin?”

He swallowed a large mouthful before answering “Um…” he started but wasn’t sure himself, there were too many things he wanted to know it was hard to know where to start from. So, he decided to go over what he’d already learnt and fill in some gaps.

He steeled himself.

“Satan. Is real?”

Iblis nodded, she felt no need to compare their father to the biblical version of Satan, he may not have been the same but he was still the father of all demons and the essence of Gehenna himself.

“And he’s my – I’m his—” He couldn’t get the words out; the news was still fresh and traumatic in his mind “How the hell did that even happen?!” His shouting drew the attention of the others at the table, Iblis glared at them indicating to mind their own business.

“Do I really need to explain **that** part of things to you?”

His face went a violent shade of red as he shook his head.

“No! I mean how did my mother and _him_ even meet. She was a human right? What possessed her to even do that sort of thing with…with him!” Iblis shrugged.

“Father was drawn to Assiah by your mother and as far as I’m concerned, she seduced him. I can’t tell you the whole story as I was only there to protect Lucifer and serve Father. All I know is, he was obsessed with her. But alas it didn’t end well, and Father brought on the ‘Blue Night’ killing hundreds of exorcists. Your mother died sometime after that.”

Rin stared at her for a good minute before any response left his mouth. “You call him Father, why?” Iblis looked back at him surprised, expecting more questions about his mother.

“Because he is my Father. Satan is father to all demons. We as Demon Kings are concepts born of Satan.”

“Does that make you and me related? Also, what’s a Demon King? Is that something to do with the demon hierarchy thing you mentioned yesterday?” Iblis nodded taking a bite of her food.

“We are like siblings, yes. We do consider you our brother.” She smirked at him “Does that mean you’ll call me your Onē-san now?” She winked; Rin turned away mumbling something under his breath, going red in the face again. “We are however not related in the biologically sense that you are to father and your twin.”

“What about the King thing, I get that your demons, but what are Demon Kings?”

“Well, I suppose we are the royalty of Gehenna, the strongest demons under Satan himself. We rule over the lower demons in our domain. The strongest of us is the commander of this ship; Lucifer.”

Rin nodded “So, who was the Samuel guy you mentioned?”

Iblis frowned; she obviously didn’t have a high opinion of him. “Samael,” she corrected “is second in Gehenna after Lucifer. He’s as crafty as he is flamboyant. He works with the exorcists. It was him and that priest that conspired to hide you.”

Rin thought about everything for a moment before his stomach growled in anger. Rin was being so engrossed in the conversation no food had gone into his stomach recently. He shovelled a few more mouthfuls before carrying on.

“Where do I fall on this Royalty thing then?” Rin asked curiously.

She thought about it for a moment “Hm, I suppose you are a Prince of Gehenna, but you are weak. You are the son of Satan and have his flames, but at the moment you hold no strength to that of a Demon King.”

“So, what do you plan to do with me?” He looked at her with a serious look. He might not be smart when it came to school work but he wasn’t stupid. He knew they wanted him for a purpose.

“Right now, as you are, there is not a lot more we can do besides train you in combat and teach you some control over the flames you have access to.”

“As I am?” Rin questioned.

“I said before you are practically human, an abnormally strong child to be trained as a soldier. We need your demon heart to be able to restore you to your full power. Return your demon nature to you.”

“But what if I don’t want that…? What if I want to stay human?”

She frowned at him, it almost looked like she was disgusted by the mention of him remaining human. Rin lowered his head to avoid her gaze, looks like that wasn’t going to be his choice either. How do you escape an airship? Hopefully, if his dad did have whatever was keeping him human, he was hiding it well.

Rin sighed, finishing the rest of his breakfast. That had sort of killed his mood for the day, although it had been hanging by a thread anyway after the night he’d had. Between the murderous flames and his running away/kidnapping, it hadn’t been the most enjoyable 24 hours. He wondered if he’d ever have a chance to go back down to the ground again or if they would just keep him locked up in this ship forever.

Iblis escorted him back to his room.

“Why are we back here, I thought we were going to practice the fire stuff?” Rin raised an eyebrow, was she not going to teach him anymore?

“We will commence with that later, right now you don’t seem to be in the right mindset for it.” Her look was serious but the disgust was not showing anymore.

“Look, I’ve been called a demon my entire life by people that just didn’t get me. I hated it, to learn all this now is even worse. I don’t want to be a demon I just want to be a normal kid. The only reason I agreed to come with you is because I didn’t want to end up killing my family with these flames.” His fists clenched by his side.

He jumped in surprise when a gentle hand caressed his face, being brought to look into those demonic green eyes. He swore he could see the fire within her dancing brightly in them.

“Dear brother, you’ve been forced to shun your power and hide it away, like everything about you was wrong. If you had ever been allowed to embrace it, you’d feel differently. Once you’ve learned to embrace your power…you will only want more.” Her face drew into a fanged smile.

With that, she walked out and the door slid shut behind her, leaving Rin scared and shocked. He was afraid of this power now more than ever. What was going to happen to him when it grew to more than he could handle? He didn’t want to embrace it; he didn’t want more he just wanted it to be gone. He wanted to go home to his father and brother and the priests. He went to his desk, rummaging around for some paper and a pen when they were successfully found he began to write.

Writing any information, he could think of about where he was and who he had interacted with, from describing the logo he had seen on the airship to Lucifer. He didn’t mention about the flames and Satan, he could berate his father about that if he ever saw him again. Right now, the most important thing was to give him as much information as possible on where he was. Because if anyone was going to save him it would be Father Fujimoto.

When he was finished scribbling his message down, he jammed the letter into an envelope and scrawled the address for the Monastery down. He shoved the letter, still open, to the back of the drawer; hidden from view under plain bits of paper. He could add to it later if anything new cropped up but at least it was ready if at any point he was able to make it to the ground and post it somehow. Rin feared though that it would be a while before they would allow him to roam beyond the airship.

This was all assuming he would still be in Japan if he ended up in some other country with no money to even buy postage and the time it took for the letter to even get back to his home… Rin shook his head. He needed to be positive, bide his time until he was trusted enough to leave the airship. He would post the letter or make a run for it.

* * *

Iblis marched through the corridors of the airship, her irritated stature causing most of the Illuminati’s followers to flinch back and get out of the way as she made her way towards Lucifer’s quarters. The guards tensing up as she approached the doors.

She glared at them, encouraging them to get on with announcing her arrival.

One of the guards hastily approached the speaker “Commander, Queen Iblis is here to see you.”

There was a pause before Lucifer responded to let her in. The guards visibly relaxed after she had entered and the doors closed behind her.

Iblis approached Lucifer, he was out of bed and in full uniform today meaning his health had improved overnight.

“Sister, what do you need?”

“It’s regarding Rin Okumura, it seems he is very unreceptive of his powers and wants to remain human should we recover the item his heart was sealed in.” Lucifer frowned.

“He feels he has a choice? He is Father’s property and will be prepared for him once we have the artefact.” Iblis met Lucifer’s cold glare.

“I understand that, but I feel his human upbringing and family will cause a problem in the future. Regardless if we help him to control his power, there is always the chance he will run at the first opportunity. I’m just wondering if there is anything we can do to… _change his mind_.” She sent him a knowing glance; Lucifer’s eyes widened in realisation of what she was referring to.

“It could work, with him still being mostly human. It would serve to help him forget his family, but would it hold after he has awakened as a demon?” Lucifer held his chin, deep in thought.

“I don’t know, but if it’s possible he would make a valuable soldier to you. I can discuss with Egyn a suitable dosage, just enough to impair his memories but not enough to render him useless to us.”

“Very well, proceed. But keep an eye on him, any adverse effects and you must stop it immediately. We only want him to forget **them**.”

“Yes, Brother.” Iblis nodded and turned to leave as Lucifer dismissed her.

Lucifer sat back in his chair, mulling over the conversation with Iblis. If this worked, he would certainly gain a powerful soldier, one with the blue flames of Father; a formidable asset indeed. It would take a little while for the crystals to take effect but would be worth it in the long run as long as it is done right.

Iblis had hurried down through the ever-winding maze of corridors on the airship until she reached a large hanger. At the end was a large set of double doors. She approached and was immediately let through by the guards, the doors closing quickly behind her. Iblis looked around, she was in a gigantic room, in the centre of which was the makings of a large piece of apparatus being built ready for future purposes.

She looked over to the control centre to see the demon she was looking for. Almost childlike in height and running around in a shark suit. She smirked as he noticed her walk in and skipped over happily.

“Ah Sister! Isn’t it wonderful?” He said pointing his little shark fin towards the machine.

“It is coming along nicely Egyn, how much longer do you think till it will finally be ready?”

“Hmm, a year or so. But we’ll get there, the chosen ones aren’t ready yet. What brings you down here anyway?”

“I need to discuss with you an appropriate dosage of Armumahel crystals to alter one’s memories.”

Egyn tilted his head curiously, pondering over the task.

“Is the being in question human or demon?”

“Well, that’s debatable. It’s Father’s offspring, Rin Okumura. I suppose, he is half-demon but his demon heart and power are still sealed somewhere so he feels more human.”

“Hm, he would need a higher dose than a normal human then, but he is also a first Nephilim of Father which could mean immunity to the effects of the crystals” Iblis frowned at the thought. “But if you say his heart is sealed and he is mostly human then it might be possible. Why are you trying to alter his memory if I might ask?”

“I want to erase his pathetic human family and human life so he can be moulded to better serve Lucifer and Father. He is unwilling as he is now.”

Egyn nodded “I see. Well leave it with me and I will work out a suitable dosage and a way of administering it without him realising.”

“Thank you, Egyn.”

The little demon in the shark suit waved as his older sister disappeared back out of the doors. He had heard the news that his Father’s Nephilim had been captured and brought aboard the airship. It was exciting. Maybe he would let him take a bit of blood to examine for future studies, it might help in some way with creating suitable vessels for Father and Lucifer as well. He must go and meet with his littlest brother soon!

Iblis walked through the ship away from the labs, moving back towards Rin’s room, they needed to get started on his fire work at least whilst she waited for Egyn to find a solution to his family problem. She was almost there when one of Homare’s underlings stopped her. Looking flustered with a stack of papers in their hand.

“Queen Iblis, I was instructed to bring this to you. It is a list of known artefacts that can house demons, I’ve also taken the liberty of printing off information on each one for you.” They held out the papers towards Iblis, she took them gratefully.

“Thank you, dismissed.”

The soldier bowed and soon hurried off to where they had come from. Iblis had a quick flick through the pieces of paper and decided to return to her room and have a better look before getting Rin. It would give him a bit more time to mull over what she had said and get his head in a better mindset.

Back in her room Iblis laid out all the separate sheets of paper on her desk, looking at each one individually.

“Mayan…no; Native American…no; Russian…no.”

One by one they were put to the side the next one she picked up was a sword.

“Hm one from Japan, used by Fukaku. He used Karura during the Edo period to defeat the Impure King… Kurikara. I swear that sounds familiar.”

She had another rummage through the bits of paper splayed on the desk. It was the only one within the Japan region at the time of Rin’s sealing.

“This must be the thing that’s sealing his heart. Now we just need to find the sword, which will be tricky if Samael has hidden it in one of his little pocket dimensions… that bastard.” She slammed her fist down on the single piece of paper, scattering the others from the desk. She looked up at the clock and sighed.

“Maybe once we’ve dealt with his memories, I can have him forcefully push the seal past its limits. First I better get him some control before he sneezes and burns the ship down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!  
> Thank you for all the kudos and comments!


	4. Let's Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin starts his flame training and gets a dinner date with Lucifer.

Rin had sat nervously fidgeting for a few hours awaiting Iblis’s return. He’d even had another shower to help clear his head a bit – it didn’t. Continuously casting cautious glances towards his drawer, making sure that his letter remained perfectly hidden. He was scared someone would find it before he had chance to post it; then he’d get into trouble.

He huffed to himself; they could’ve at least given him something to entertain himself if they were going to keep him locked up here. There was only so much doodling and scribbling he could do. It was nearing lunchtime and he was starting to feel a little hungry again.

He wondered if Father Fujimoto and Yukio were okay, whether they were still trying to find him; or if they had given up after his goodbye. The thought left a little pang in his heart. He missed his family and wished he’d just gone to school that day and straight home again.

He jumped up when the door slid open, Iblis walking in with some paper and something else in her hands.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, hopefully you’ve had time to think about what I said.” She stared at him expectantly; he nodded hesitantly. He hadn’t really, not liking the notion at all and still wanted to remain as human as possible. “I got you something, a little welcome gift and apology. Here’s the first half.” She handed him a small handheld console. “Something to keep you occupied until you get comfortable enough to roam around the ship.”

Rin stood wide eyed looking at the console box in his hand, they’d never been able to afford the newest models when at the Monastery, so to have his very own new in a box was a big shock and pleasant surprise.

“T-Thank you…” He put it carefully down on his desk before turning back towards Iblis. She took a step towards him; Rin flinched back a bit still a bit fearful of the demon after their earlier interaction.

“I’m not here to hurt you, little brother.” She took another step but this time Rin stayed put. Bending down she pinned something to his uniform. She stepped back to appraise him; a pleased smile drawn upon her face. “Part two of your present. It matches your eyes.”

Rin turned to look in the mirror – still weirded out by the uniform he had to wear, he supposed he would get used to it eventually, it was no different to a school or work uniform he guessed. Then his eyes drew to his gift; a jewelled brooch. Sitting on the left side of his chest was a sapphire gem set in silver, around it was four tiny black gems. He looked back up to Iblis surprised.

“Thank you, it’s nice.”

“It’ll help you keep a handle on your flames as well, so don’t go taking it off.” He nodded. Iblis smiled it was small enough he wouldn’t be able to feel the crystals but still enough to gradually impair his memories over time. She was impressed how fast Egyn had managed to put something together in all honesty, but she was grateful nonetheless. The sooner they erase his past the sooner they can prepare him to serve Lucifer and furthermore their father.

“Come with me then. I’ve reserved the training room for a few hours after lunch so we can work on your flames.” She stood by the open door ushering him out.

After another awkward mealtime being stared at by complete strangers, Rin was relieved to reach the quiet, private training room.

The training room itself wasn’t huge but big enough for him not to set fire to anything. Iblis motioned to the floor in the middle of the room for Rin to sit down. Before pulling a piece of paper out from her clothing.

“Nearly forgot to ask, but does this look familiar.” She said, handing Rin the paper.

He stared at it for a moment, taking in the picture of the sword before shaking his head; passing the paper back to Iblis.

“Never seen it before, why?”

“I believe this is the item that seals your demon heart.” She once again folded up the paper, putting it away. “I was hoping you might’ve seen it at that monastery but I had a feeling Samael probably aided that priest in hiding it.” Wishful thinking that it would be that easy to get her hands on it. “Anyway, let’s get started. This was the whole reason you came here in the first place, right?” She glanced to Rin on the floor; he nodded glumly.

“At the moment, your flames react to your emotions, you are in this instance, the equivalent of a baby demon.” Rin shot a glare at her to which she just laughed “It’s true. You have little to no control as you saw with those teens in the alley.” His glare faltered at that; he felt like he’d remember the smell of those charred bodies for a very long time. Swallowing a lump in his throat he returned his gaze to Iblis.

“But since your heart is still sealed away along with the bulk of your power, it’s an opportunity to practice some control _without the risk of blowing up the airship_ …” she said, mumbling the last part to herself. “Close your eyes.”

Rin did as he was told.

“Now I want you to take deep breaths, in and out.” Rin was about to question but she cut him off to explain further “I can feel your fear, Rin. You need to stop thinking and fearing your power. So, we’ll be starting with calming techniques; I suppose a bit of meditation if you will?”

“Honestly, if I do this for too long, I **will** fall asleep.” Rin peeked an eye at Iblis, who rolled her eyes in response.

“If you don’t want to get burned, you’d better keep your ass awake.” There was a hint of humour in her threat but the fire was ready in her hand moments later. Rin quickly closed his eyes again and tried to stay awake; breathing in and out.

After a few minutes of meditative breathing, Rin surprisingly felt very relaxed.

“Whenever you’re ready, keep your eyes closed and try to picture your flame.” Rin did as he was told, trying to imagine the blue flames that had once enveloped him in their warmth. But in imagining his flames also brought back the fresh memories and screams of pain that had accompanied them last night. The horror he had felt seeing those kids burning to death in front of him. He yelled and his eyes shot open again just as his flames burst from him violently. Iblis sighed, carefully approaching the boy she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Calm, Rin.”

“How can I be calm…w-when I did that to them. I-I’m a murderer!”

“Listen to me.” Rin looked up to meet her vibrant green eyes, hands gripping at his hair. “Those worms deserved to rot.” His eyes widened at her words “You are not the boy you once were; you are a Demon Prince of Gehenna and any worm that so much as looks wrongly at you should pay the price”

Rin swallowed a lump; he didn’t agree but nodded anyway in hopes she would back off.

“I’m sure you’ll realise that in time, little brother. Now try again, calm yourself and then try calling your flames.” She returned to a standing position and moved a few steps away again. They continued to do this for a few hours.

Rin had tried not to let the memory of those kids hinder him, every time it terrorised his thoughts, he would push it back down to some dark area of his mind until eventually it was as if it had never existed.

After some time, he was getting used to calling on his flames and extinguishing them on command; at least around his body. He enjoyed the comforting warmth they provided and he tried to call more, curious to see how much he was able to use. At the moment they were nothing but a flicker around his form, nothing compared to last night when they had first erupted from him.

Rin tried to recall what had set them off, he had been in danger but suddenly couldn’t remember why. In the end he was brought out of his thoughts by Iblis and talk of food; his stomach immediately agreed it was time to eat. His thoughts soon replaced by thoughts of food.

“You did well today.” She gave him an approving nod “Tomorrow we will do a little more practice and then move on to something else.”

Rin nodded. As messed up as his situation was, he was grateful to have Iblis to teach him how to handle his flames. If he had gone home and had an outburst he dread to think of the consequences. What he could’ve done to his home and family. At least this way if he did ever find a way back home, his family was safe. He felt sad at the thought that he may never see them again…

They left the training room and moved through the airship’s corridors, eventually standing outside a familiar set of doors.

“This isn’t the food court…”

“No, Lucifer requested your presence for dinner. But since he is not well enough yet he couldn’t exactly join you in the food court so asked if I could bring you to him.”

“Will you be coming with me?” He looked at her pleadingly but she shook her head.

“No, he requested only you.”

Rin stared at the doors in front of him, swallowing a lump in his throat. He shakily moved towards the doors; the guards moving aside to let him through as the doors slid open. He once again entered the serene white space that was Lucifer’s room.

For the most part it was the same as when he had been here before, but with one difference; a small table in the centre of the room laden with food. Lucifer himself was sat at the table in full uniform, no longer hooked up to the large tubes he had been the previous day. Stood next to him was his second in command, the moody looking lady Rin couldn’t quite remember the name of.

Taking a deep breath, Rin moved towards the table. Two sets of eyes watching him carefully as he approached with shaky legs. He reached the bottom of the steps leading up to the centre podium and the table.

“Rin Okumura.” Lucifer spoke; Rin stiffened on the spot.

“S-Sir” He stuttered.

“The uniform becomes you.” He complimented. Rin steadily looked up to meet his stoic gaze.

“Thank you…” he mumbled.

“Please sit down and help yourself. Homare you can leave us.”

“Yes, Commander.” She gave one last lingering gaze towards the young boy before following the command of her chief and leaving the room through the doors. Rin was now alone with Lucifer. He moved to sit opposite at the table, staring at the empty plate and the food on the table in front of him. Lucifer began filling his own plate so Rin took it as permission to do so as well. Even if his appetite was now non-existent, he knew he’d regret not eating later.

Lucifer took note of his hesitance.

“You do not have anything to fear from me, as the one who bears my father’s flame you are under the Illuminati’s protection now.” Rin didn’t answer; continuing to pick at the morsels of food on his plate.

“I understand you are not comfortable and would like to return to your home and family.” Rin perked up a little at the mention of his home “But taking into consideration the plans of my brother and his intentions for you, I feel you would be safer under my protection.”

“What plans?” Rin had no idea who this brother of his was, but the fact he had plans for Rin had him worried. Why would a stranger have plans for Rin? “Who are you talking about?”

“I believe Iblis may have told you of our brother, Samael?” Rin nodded in confirmation.

“The one who works with the Exorcists… and the old man?”

“Yes. My brother and his Paladin conspired to raise you in secret as a weapon for his exorcists, but there was also another reason he wanted to keep you. A bargain was made 13 years ago after the Blue Night and Section 13’s destruction. We are both on a mission to provide father with a suitable vessel to enter Assiah.”

Rin froze, he didn’t know much about demons but hearing the word ‘vessel’ he had a pretty good idea of what that meant. He stood up from the table and back away from the piercing green eyes of the demon in front of him.

“What the hell do you want from me?!” Rin’s flames began to leak from him in some sort of protective measure. Lucifer stared at the boy, undeterred by his attitude.

“I offered to create a perfect vessel for father. As I did with my own body – through cloning. Samael on the other hand offered to raise and prepare a child that bore the blue flames for father to possess.” Rin’s eyes widened at the realisation he’d been offered up as a vessel for Satan. “Admittedly I am meddling in his plans by keeping you here, but I feel it would be a waste to have you turned into a vessel for father when I can create a separate body purely for his use.” Rin relaxed slightly, flames disappearing back into his body. “Please sit back down and finish your meal.”

“It would be much better for you to meet your biological father on somewhat better terms than what Samael had planned I’m sure.” Rin nodded weakly and returned to his seat.

They ate in silence for the rest of the meal, Rin lost in thought about what his situation had been before he’d been taken. When he’d finished his food, he spoke up one question that had been bothering him.

“Did my dad know what I was being prepared for…?”

“I cannot answer that, I’m afraid.”

Rin slumped in his chair. Did the old man know what he was being raised for? Did he even care…? Before he had much opportunity to think about it further, Lucifer stood from his chair and over to an intercom. Calling for Homare to return to the room; within a few minutes she promptly arrived.

“I believe you’ve already met, this is Homare Todou; my second in command.” Rin nodded, standing from his chair. “From this day forward, you shall be under her care. You will be trained and prepared to join the Phosphorous; my own personal bodyguard team.”

“What about Iblis?” Rin asked, he was a tad worried looking at the stoic woman in front of him, he at least felt more comfortable with Iblis.

“Iblis will still be training you with your flames, but you work and answer to Homare. Once she has deemed you trustworthy and reliable will you be permitted to join missions outside of the airship.” Rin perked up; he’d be allowed to leave the airship?! All he had to do was do as he was told and not give them any reasons not to trust him. Then he could escape.

The woman took a step towards him and he straightened up.

“I have called in a favour from one of our agents, he is going to continue your schooling whilst you train to join the Phosphorous.” Rin’s first instinct was to groan at the disappointment of STILL needing to do his schoolwork, even when he was being held hostage by some demon organisation.

“He will also be helping you with general exorcism studies which will be relevant to your job.” That piqued his interest, he’d learn some exorcism things?

“Why would you want me to learn exorcism? Isn’t that what you’re against? You made it sound like they are all bad.” Rin looked at them both sceptically.

“The Illuminati wants to create a world in which Demons can live as equals to humans, without needing to suffer.” She shifted her eyes to Lucifer briefly before looking back at Rin “Some exorcism topics are necessary for your job; you will see that once you start learning.” He nodded in response, feeling slightly overwhelmed with the thought he now had to do school work and learn some exorcism topics. He didn’t even know demons had existed until yesterday…It all felt like too much. Running a hand through his hair he let out an exhausted breath.

“Listen I was never really good with school work, the whole reason I’m even here is because I was skipping school…” He really regretted that decision now, if he had just gone to school like he was supposed to he’d have been home with his family right now.

“I’m sure with enough _incentive_ you’ll learn what you need to.” She gave him a firm look, he gulped; she was small but intimidating.

“Yes…Ma’am”

God it felt like he’d be thrust into some military school. Not that the old man didn’t threaten him with it if he didn’t straighten up but he’d never thought he’d end up in that sort of situation by accident!

“Come, Okumura. Let’s return you to your room.”

He nodded and turned to Lucifer who had been calmly watching the conversation between the two.

“Thank you for the meal, Sir.”

“I look forward to meeting with you again, Rin Okumura.” He nodded with a stoic look; his expression never changed.

With that he was escorted out of the room by Homare and back to his room.

“I will discuss with Iblis a schedule for you so that you may keep up the training with your flames. Mastering those is the most important thing for you right now. Your other training will come over time.”

“Am I allowed to walk around the ship? Or am I confined to my room?” He looked at her hesitantly, like Lucifer her expression never changed.

“You can freely walk the ship.” She answered pulling something out of her pocket “Here. This is your I.D badge, it will allow you to go anywhere you have permission to enter. Anywhere you should not enter will be guarded and you will be sent away.”

“Okay…” Rin nodded; Homare frowned “Yes, Ma’am.” He corrected himself and her glare subsided.

“Don’t stay up too late, I will be back for you tomorrow.”

With that she left the room, door closing behind her. Rin took a deep breath and fell to his bed, releasing the tension he’d built up over the last few hours.

* * *

The last week had been stressful and tiresome for Shiro and everyone at the monastery. He’d done what any father could do for a missing child; reported to the authorities and put up posters around Southern Cross. But he knew Rin was far away by now, he could’ve been anywhere. After informing Mephisto that his ‘weapon’ had been taken by Iblis, he was not pleased. Mentioned something about ‘cheating bastards’ messing with his side of the game.

Everything was a game to that demon. Shiro just wanted his son back; Yukio wanted his brother.

Mephisto had been accommodating otherwise, allowing posters to be put up around the whole of True Cross and had even passed on some to the Myo’da Sect in Kyoto and other branches to further the search. When questioned about it, he merely stated that the Paladin’s son had been kidnapped and could be used as leverage against him. This confused a few as Yukio had been the only son they had seen or heard about but they didn’t question further.

He’d said the Illuminati had their feelers out for new recruits and he had spies within the organization but none were close enough to Lucifer to know if Rin was within their headquarters or if Iblis had whisked him away to some other base of theirs. This was of course assuming that Iblis was still following Lucifer around and hadn’t just taken Rin straight to Gehenna; to Satan.

If Rin’s demon heart was sealed away with the Kurikara, would he die in Gehenna or would being in Gehenna force his heart back to him? He didn’t want to think about it and he was afraid to check the sword. If he pulled it and there were no flames, he’d know for sure - but if he pulled it and the flames were still there, he would’ve unsealed his son’s heart for the Illuminati to use. It was safer to keep it hidden in its little pocket dimension where no one but himself could access it.

He’d spend the first 24 hours after Rin’s disappearance running around with a photo of Rin, asking whoever he had come across if he’d been seen with a woman matching Iblis’s description. He’d turned up with nothing; it was as if he’d just disappeared from Assiah in a flourish of flame.

Shiro had to practically force Yukio back to school, he’d wanted to help find his brother but Shiro forbid him to sacrifice his school work and future, promising to find Rin himself. Even if it took every piece of information the order had on the Illuminati to get him back.

But it seemed his superiors had other plans and were increasingly giving him other things to focus on now. His workload was getting increasingly higher, there were more missions; more paperwork and over time his investigation into Rin’s whereabouts got thinner and thinner. His reluctance to let Yukio join in and get a glimpse of the Illuminati and risk him knowing how it connected to his past and their birth was causing everything to fall apart. He’d pleaded with Mephisto to sort something out but he was less than helpful. Saying he’d done as much as he could and until he had someone in Lucifer’s inner circle nothing was going to progress further.

Eventually the investigation was buried underneath everything else. Shiro decided after a year of failed progress to turn his focus on Yukio feeling he’d been somewhat neglected since Rin’s disappearance. At least until such a time as Mephisto came to him with progress from his own spies. Yukio had been furious and accused him of giving up, but Shiro had managed to calm him down enough to explain he had no leads and no where to look, claiming Mephisto was still on the case.

It was 2 years before they had any news about Rin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there~!  
> Little update for this fic, there will be a time-skip coming up either next chapter or the following depending on how I do it. This fic will be taking somewhat of a back seat until 'Into the Unknown' is finished and 'Lost Prince' is at a certain point I think but I'll still be updating. Shima will be making an appearance soon-ish.
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments!


	5. Fading Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1 year has passed and Rin's memories are not faring well. Things get a bit explosive...

A year had passed since Rin’s arrival on the Dominus Liminus. But for him it had seemed longer – he couldn’t recall anything before his arrival on the ship and his family here. He wondered if there had been anything else. There were sometimes flashes of faces he could no longer put a name to, they were familiar but when he tried to think of them his head just hurt. They always surfaced during his flame training with Iblis; like something in his flames was drawing them out. At first, he wanted to know what they were but when trying to push further the pain in his head would spike. In the end, it was easier to just push them back and focus on his flames.

He’d gradually accepted the idea that he was the son of Satan, the God of demons. Under Lucifer’s watchful protection from exorcists who sought to kill or use him. Lucifer had promised to eventually create a body for his father so that they would finally meet face to face. It made Rin curious to know what his birth father was like. Rin had often been called upon by Egyn to give blood, saying the blood of their father’s direct Nephilim would help in creating him a body.

Over the last year, Rin’s temperament had gotten more irritable and aggressive at times. Iblis had put this down to being separated from his demon heart for so long after his awakening. His body and heart wanted to be reunited; they wanted to be unsealed. All they knew was that it was hidden within True Cross. Rin had nearly begged Lucifer to send him there to retrieve it but had been told countless times it wasn’t the right time and he would be walking right into Samael’s hands. Iblis was convinced if they let him off the ship, he’d run off to find it. Coming to this conclusion she’d spoken with Lucifer the possibilities of remotely breaking the seal just enough so calm Rin down until his heart could be recovered physically.

Rin had been kept busy otherwise, between his private tutoring, Phosphorous training and his time with Iblis working on his flame control, he barely had much time to himself anymore. This had helped with his transition into the Illuminati and heavily distracted him from his slowly withering memories of his old life. Egyn and Iblis had been keeping tabs on the new addition since his ‘gift’ was given to watch out for any ill effects, but everything seemed to be going well outside of when Rin pushed too far with his flames.

Having spoken to Iblis about the voices and faces he could hear and see, accompanied by the headaches, both Egyn and herself had convinced Rin to push them down. It had helped with the pain, but Rin was still curious.

Today would be different though...

On entering one of the training rooms Rin found Iblis stood in the centre, as she always did, waiting for him. This time the room was empty of anything else. Usually, she had some sort of demon or practice apparatus to help with his control and use of his flames but there was nothing but Iblis herself. He eyed her curiously before she huffed and pointed to the floor.

“Sit, little brother.”

It was reminiscent of his first session with her, sat in an empty room just to practice with a power he’d never known he had.

“We back to meditating or something?”

“To begin with, yes. Your outbursts recently have been getting more worrying.” Rin frowned; he hated the feeling of his body so hot with rage. But until they found his sealed heart his outbursts were a danger. “I want to try something different today.” Her gaze was intense on him.

“Like what?”

“I was hoping to avoid this, that we would find your heart before things got too out of control…but with the way things are progressing we don’t have much choice.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I want you to forcibly break the seal.”

“What?! Isn’t that dangerous?!”

“Your heart will still be separated from your body; we cannot release your heart without breaking the sword. But you still need some time to acclimate to your flames before that is possible.” Rin calmed a little and nodded but remained uncomfortable with the idea. “But we can try and force the seal to break so you can draw on your powers more. It won’t be perfect without the sword, but it might help with your temperament for a bit longer.”

Rin could hear the unspoken words of ‘before you blow up the airship’ but chose not to say anything about it. Iblis knew better, being a fire demon herself and probably some experience of Satan himself.

“Fine…” he grumbled “What do I have to do?”

“Summon your flames like normal and pull on them as much as you can.” She warily eyed the room around them, it was a bigger room than the usual room they used and empty of anything flammable. Hopefully, this wasn’t going to be a bad idea.

Rin did as he was told, calmly sitting as he pulled on his flames. They’d grown a lot in the last year, no longer a flicker around his form. His emotions still caused them to swell to great lengths, but he had a lot more control than before and was able to pull them back quickly.

“Good, now push them further.”

“My head is hurting again.”

“Push through it, Rin.”

Rin grit his teeth and pushed further, his flames growing more. Muffled voices and blurred faces appeared in his head once again, he could only make out a few mentions of his name being shouted or screams of ‘Demon child’ being yelled. He didn’t want these thoughts whatever they were, they hurt. If they hurt him, they were bad and needed to be pushed away back to the dark recesses of his mind.

He pushed further before he heard Iblis cry out, his eyes snapped open the pain in his head throbbed even more before a sharp pain hit his left eye. He screamed out in agony before everything went black.

Iblis watched in a mix of awe and horror as the blue flames practically engulfed the room tearing away at the walls and even her vessel. It wasn’t long before the panic set in.

“Rin, stop!” He couldn’t hear her, and she couldn’t approach through the intensity of the blue flames. He certainly was a marvel for a Nephilim.

Dammit, Lucifer might punish her for this if his ship is damaged too badly.

“Rin--!” before she finished there was an explosion of blue flame knocking her backwards into the nearest wall; Rin’s screams of agony followed. She opened her eyes to see Rin on his knees gripping his head as blue flames spewed from one of his eyes violently. It felt like forever before he finally collapsed to the floor, flames disappearing altogether.

Breathlessly, Iblis smacked her hand on the nearest alarm to call the medics.

* * *

Rin awoke to a beeping sound squinting his eyes open he abruptly shut them again due to a blindingly bright light. Trying again, gradually his vision adjusted before he realised something was wrong; he could only see out of one eye. Moving his hand up to his face he felt something wrapped around his head and covering his eye, bandages. Turning to look at his hands and arms as he lifted them, he noted all the tubes connected to him.  
The beeping in the room sped up as the memories of what happened flooded back to him and panic overtook. Trying to rip out the tubes and pulling at the bandages

It was only a few seconds before the ship’s doctors were suddenly crowding his vision. When he finally got a look around the room he stopped struggling when his eye met Iblis’s – watching him calmly from the corner of the room.

“Onee-san—”

“Good, you’re alive. It would’ve been disappointing if that little explosion was your downfall.” She smirked at him as she approached – close enough to see him but not enough to disrupt the doctors doing their job.

“What happened to me?”

“You ruptured your eye during your training session Master Rin. You also spent a lot of your energy and have been unconscious for 4 days. We administered a shot of elixir to help with your healing factor, with any luck the eye should restore itself.” The doctor explained; Rin stared at the doctor unable to form any words.

“You blew up your eye when you pushed through the seal.” Iblis sniggered.

“I what?!” Rin frantically pulled at the bandages on his head trying to remove them, he wanted to see the damage.

“Calm down, Master Rin. When we changed your bandages last the eye was healing up fine.”

“I want them off, **now**.” Rin growled.

The doctors backed away slightly looking to Iblis.

“Do it. I assume he’s well enough to be discharged anyway right? If his eye is healed enough, he can just go.” Iblis kept a watchful eye as the doctors nodded and proceeded to remove the bandages from Rin’s head and eye.

Rin blinked both eyes as if testing they still worked, looking around the room at the somewhat surprised faces around him.

“I can see fine, does that mean it’s healed? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Well well, that’s an interesting change…” Iblis said as she eyed him carefully.

“What is?” Rin said, confused.

A doctor stepped forward, tilting Rin’s face up examining his eye. Getting a small light out of his pocket and shining it in his eye before stepping back again.

“Everything seems normal, just…”

“What is it?!”

Iblis huffed in frustration before grabbing a mirror and handing it to Rin, he greedily snatched it from her and immediately held it up to his face.

He stared at his reflection for a good minute not knowing if what he was seeing was actually real. His right eye remained normal but his left…had he broken the seal or was this the elixir doing something?

He raised his hand to his face examining the eye closely, it moved around like normal and he could see perfectly through it. But…it reminded him of Iblis and Lucifer’s eyes. The iris glowed a lighter blue that embodied his blue flames, the black of his pupil was slit like a cat’s and in the centre sat a bright red glow he had never noticed before.

His grip on the mirror tightened as his breathing picked up its pace. Flickers of flame danced around his body as Iblis approached her brother muttering one word to the staff in the vicinity.

“Out.”

The doctors and nurses hesitantly cleared out of the room to leave Iblis to calm Rin down.

The handle of the mirror cracked in Rin’s hand and he threw it across the room – smashing into the wall. His heart was pounding in his ears and he wasn’t sure why. He’d known for a long time now he was a demon; the flames were proof enough of that. But he’d always looked human and seeing something look so demonic on him now, seemed like it wasn’t his.

“Rin.” Iblis looked impassively as she stepped closer. Rin’s eyes darted up to her.

“How…?”

“I assume in our efforts to push through and break the seal were partially successful. Your eye exploded from the pressure but has healed to show your true demonic heritage.” She smiled as if this was a good thing.

Rin choked on a sob before pressed his hand over his eye, covering it completely.

“Don’t tell me your ashamed of it? I thought you’d accepted all this already?”

He **had** accepted it…hadn’t he? So why was this bothering him so much? Nobody here would shun him for it, so why was he afraid? He pressed harder as the beginnings of a headache formed in his temple.

“I did…but—”

“But now you can see the physical side of things it’s a shock to you, right?”

Rin nodded, that was about right. He was sure there was more, there was someone he didn’t want to disappoint but couldn’t quite think of who.

“Come, we’ll get you discharged, and you can rest up in your room. I will explain things to Lucifer and we’ll probably have to wait till we’re on the ground before we can try again. Otherwise, you might actually blow the ship up…”

She tossed his uniform at him and left the room so that he could change.

As Rin exited the room, he noticed Iblis conversing with the doctor. About to approach them he was stopped by a nurse who gave him a sympathetic smile as she examined his eye, before dropping something in his hand.

“If you feel self-conscious about it, or even just to hide it whilst you’re off the ship in the future. Please take this.” With that she walked away; opening his hand Rin found a plain black eyepatch. He put the eyepatch over his eye and moved to join Iblis.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote something - yay me!  
> I could've probably have done more with this chapter so I'm sorry if it's a bit short. Sorry in advance for any mistakes, I did give a read through but it's already stupid late and I'm pooped.  
> The fanart above is done by myself :3  
> https://twitter.com/tizzilicious/status/1264637532513370112/photo/1


	6. Festival Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Festival time~  
> Yes I had to time skip again, I'm terrible at filler.

It had been two years since his brother's disappearance from the alleyway. Yukio remembers vividly the shocked and scared look on Rin's face as the fire wrapped around him and dragged him to who knows where. He'd berated his father for over a year about it - they should've told him; they should've told him everything. At least then, he might've returned home instead of running away. Instead of putting his trust in that snake of a demon king. He wonders to this day what had convinced his brother to follow her, but given his lack of knowledge about anything demon, he probably didn't know any better. His brother was, if anything, impulsive.

Yukio had stopped talking to Shiro altogether when the search had been called off but after looking into things himself, he knew it was a lost cause. The people that had taken Rin were well equipped to hide him away without a trace. He had to trust his father when he said Mephisto was still looking for him, although putting his faith in that demon was just as difficult.

The kids at junior high had all been relieved at his brother's absence but at the same time, they weren't heartless enough to have wished his kidnapping/running away. They gave Yukio condolences and effectively left him alone for the remainder of his time there. Once he started at True Cross everything was different. Schoolwork kept him busy, he was helping his father teach new exorcist students, even going so far as to lead the class on occasion. It made him even happier when his friend Shiemi joined the class - he'd met her around the same time as Rin disappeared and she had helped immensely ease his guilt and pain at the loss.

At first, she had just joined the cram school, having been brought up in seclusion she wanted to ease herself into society and make friends. But she soon turned out to be a talented tamer with her new familiar 'Nee', an infant Greenman. Yukio had spent countless hours tutoring her for entrance exams, and she had finally passed and joined the High School with him as well. It made him elated to know his first real friend besides his brother was here.

To celebrate her passing he promised to accompany her during the True Cross Festival. It was a bit awkward since Sir Pheles had made it mandatory for it to be couples, which they were not, but both Shiemi and himself were there for class purposes and security anyway. After Shiemi was done with the haunted house her class had put together she had walked around with him as he did his job chaperoning the dance. His two other students Renzou Shima and Ryuji Suguro had joined him for that as well both being dateless for the dance (either by choice in Suguro's case or unlucky in Shima's). Their friend Konekomaru Miwa had managed to snag himself a date much to Shima's ire - he'd almost looked catatonic at the news.

He'd passed his father during the festivities who was also part of the security detail, one of the few adults with Shura. Shiro had made a few snide comments saying to take Shiemi for a dance and enjoy himself for once. The hopeful glimmer in Shiemi's eyes had his face going red and he soon relented. It had been an enjoyable night, at least until Shura's voice came screaming down his earpiece telling everyone to gather up.

"Find Izumo Kamiki." Were the first words Shura spoke once everyone was gathered.

The exwires all looked at Shura with confusion as she spoke, why would Izumo be in trouble?

"Miss Kirigakura, I think she stayed at the dorm. Paku said she wasn't interested in joining the festival." Shiemi timidly spoke up. "We tried to convince her otherwise but she seemed adamant."

"Right, you and Yukio go check the dorms. Everyone else spread out and check the festival grounds just in case she changed her mind. Also, try and find Nemu Takara, we can't reach him either."

"Is this enough? Shouldn't we contact the instructors? Where's my father? What about Lord Phel--?"

"No!" Shura looked at Yukio with a determined gaze "Treat this as a top-secret assignment from Vatican Headquarters. I will contact Shiro in a moment, but do not inform Mephisto!" Yukio nodded in confirmation and grabbed Shiemi's hand, running in the direction of the girl’s dormitories. Everyone else split up to search the surrounding areas of the festival.

After Shiro received the call from Shura it wasn't long after that when explosive sounds could be heard from the observation deck of the academy. Informing Shura and the others to get there as soon as possible, he met up with Yukio and Shiemi on the way, having diverted from their journey to the dormitories. They all ran as fast as they could to the top, the sound of propellers getting louder as they approached. What they found at the top was not what they were expecting.

* * *

Rin stared out the window of the aircraft down at the glittering lights of True Cross, he had a sense of déjà vu before shrugging it off and turning back to the inside of the aircraft. Lucifer, his brother, had said they were waging war on Samael and his exorcists of True Cross. They were currently on their way to pick up an asset to the elixir research and their contact within the Academy.

Rin knew nothing of most of this, only being introduced to the Phosphorous ranks recently. He'd known of the elixirs as Lucifer had to constantly take them but that there was someone important within the exorcist ranks was news to him. But then again there was still plenty he didn’t know about the Illuminati; he’d never been privy to certain sections of the ship where they said they were working to prepare a body for his father. Only been asked to donate some of his blood and anything else they might’ve needed. He was sure once he’d proven himself, he’d be trusted with the knowledge.

Turbulence brought Rin out of his thoughts as an explosion below caught his attention. He could see three figures on the ground and what looked like a large demon made of black flames. He watched intently; he’d been told about the black flames of Armumahel but had never seen them.

Rin’s stomach flipped as the aircraft prepared to land. His hands wrung nervously; this had been his first mission off of the airship since he arrived. He wasn’t alone mind, Homare and the twins Gunnar and Gunnan, as well as a few other members of the Illuminati, had accompanied him on the airship. He felt like he was shadowing them; after all this was a learning experience.

The doors slid open as they landed with a thud, everyone moved to exit the aircraft with Homare leading the way. Rin followed the twins as they got out, eyeing the pink-haired boy in front of him; he was holding a girl with purple hair wearing a kimono. He’d heard something of a festival was going on so she must’ve been attending.

“Well done.” Homare approached the youth with a stern expression.

“Yeah, no prob!”

“Who’s the twerp?”

“Huh?” The pink-haired boy turned to look at the smaller boy that he’d been fighting with previously, who curiously was holding a little pink rabbit puppet on his hand. “Oh, uh...”

“I achieved my goal. I will not interfere.” The puppet spoke in a high crass voice; Rin jumped in surprise. Homare remained silent, eyeing the boy before her before signalling to the rest of the group to get ready.

Shima jumped back in surprise as the large metal shields were placed down in front of them.

“Whoa, what’s all this? You’re not just leaving?” The boy gave a panicked look towards the opposite direction. It was as if he didn’t want to get caught here.

“Be careful not to mess this up.” Homare said sternly, looking ahead where he could see a group of people running towards them.

The Paladin and the rest of the cram students arrived at the scene rushing towards them shouting the names ‘Shima’ and ‘Kamiki’. A blinding light appeared before them stopping them in their tracks.

“He has come.” Homare stated.

The Illuminati members were shielded from the light by the shields as Lucifer arrived at the scene. In front of the exorcists Mephisto appeared, his cape draped wide in front of them acting as a shield to the intense light given off by Lucifer’s arrival. Rin moved to stand by Homare where he could keep an eye on his brother and commander.

A voice echoed in the air as the light took form.

“It is a pleasure to meet all of you. Please forgive me for so forcibly making myself heard.”

As the light finally faded Lucifer stood before Mephisto, adorned in his Illuminati uniform and a golden mask to hide his sickly appearance.

“I am the commander-in-chief of the Illuminati. I am Lucifer, The King of Light.”

Mephisto bowed respectfully. Rin frowned at the snide comment the demon made of Lucifer’s condition. The urge to burn him back to Gehenna was strong, but he’d been warned already he’d not be able to face off against him in his current form. It angered him further knowing this was the demon that had sealed and hidden his demon heart, the one thing he wanted to be reunited with.

Rin eyed the others behind as Lucifer announced the Illuminati’s intentions for the world. They all looked so young, Rin’s age even. All but one anyway; the Paladin. Rin remembered his face from the briefing on the higher-ups on True Cross. He wasn’t impressed in the slightest, he looked like nothing more than a tired old man.

With his declaration of war completed Lucifer bid farewell to Samael and turned to join the rest of the Illuminati as they boarded the aircraft. But before he got too far, he staggered and collapsed to the ground roughly coughing blood as he fell.

“Commander!” Homare shouted as she ran to Lucifer’s side; Rin followed.

“Onii-sama, are you okay?” He assisted Homare with getting Lucifer to stand back up, passing him over to the twins as they carried him aboard the aircraft, its engines revving up ready to depart.

As he was about to follow, he heard a voice behind him from the Exorcists.

“Oh ho, little brother. Is that where you’ve been hiding these past two years.” Rin wanted to wipe the growing sneer off the demon’s face but soon forgot when other voices spoke up from behind. The Paladin and a boy with glasses pushed past Samael to get closer.

“Rin?!” They called in unison.

Rin furrowed his brow in confusion. Who the hell were these people? How did they know him?

“Rin, we’re leaving. Now!”

Ignoring the exorcists, he turned back to the aircraft at Homare’s call. When he heard a gun click from behind his head snapped back around to see the Paladin with a shotgun aiming for the helicopter.

“I’ll be damned if they take you from me again.” Shiro hissed; Rin could see the glistening of tears in his eyes.

Without another thought, Rin raised his hand towards the man and his gun. Yukio seeing something flash in the boy’s visible eye, no time to question to himself **why** Rin had an eyepatch on the other. He knocked his father out of the way as blue flames blasted towards them, burning the gun out of his hands.

They stayed on the ground too shocked to move; Rin had _attacked_ them. He’d attacked them with a very clear intent to harm them using his flame of all things.

“Now now, there isn’t any need for that, is there? I have something that you want, remember.” The smug clown snapped his fingers and, in his hands, appeared the sword that Iblis had shown him. His eyes widened when he felt the power within the sword. He could feel the power of his own demon heart calling to him. He couldn’t repress the inhuman growl that escaped him at the sight of the thing he’d been missing.

“Give it back!” He took a step towards the exorcists, his flames wisped around him violently. But before he could get far, Homare snapped him back to his senses and pulled him aboard the aircraft.

Shima observed the young boy being dragged aboard the airship with interest and fear; he briefly glanced back towards Mephisto who gave him a slight smile.

“Shima, get on board now!”

Shima snapped his attention to Homare and immediately moved to board the airship behind the dark-haired boy that had just spouted blue flames from his hands. Sir Pheles seemed to show an interest in the boy and there was something familiar about him but Shima couldn’t quite place it at that moment.

His friends were calling to him from behind, he gave them a carefree smile and waved.

“Thanks for trusting me guys! But this is who I am…see ya!”

He could hear the sound of his friend Bon scream his name behind him. He didn’t dare look back as he entered the airship doors, with all the dramatic flair he could muster before the doors shut behind him and he promptly collapsed.

Homare sighed “Someone see to him!”

Rin ignored the human, choosing to glare out of the window at the clown that had his sword. He wanted nothing more than to rip the demon’s head off and take it back whilst his remains lit up in blue flames. It was taking all of his will power right now to sit still and not burn the two Illuminati members holding him in his seat. He flinched when Homare turned her attention to him; the sounds of explosions sounded below where Lucifer’s seraphim exploded around True Cross.

“You shouldn’t have exposed yourself like that.”

“The paladin would’ve shot the chopper down if I hadn’t,” he frowned “they also seemed to know who I was regardless of that anyway.” He yanked his arms away from the two beside him, growling as he did so. “That clown had my heart, what did you expect me to do? And both the Paladin and that other guy knew my name before I’d even stepped forward. Why?”

Homare eyed him for a moment before Lucifer coughed and spoke up; unmoving from his stretcher.

“You forget, we saved you from being raised as a weapon for the order. The Paladin would know who you are as he was one of the ones to keep you confined.” Lucifer coughed again letting Rin take in the information. He’d forgotten so much of what happened before the Illuminati had taken him in. He slumped in his seat not wanting to argue further; especially with Lucifer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, me again~  
> Updates seem to be getting increasingly longer, I'm so busy lol.  
> I have a week off this week so HOPEFULLY I'll be able to do some writing for something - I know Lost Prince is overdue for an update...I know what I want to write but putting things into coherent words just seems to elude me lately. I'm so sleepy -.-


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